


Out Tonight

by thundercaya



Series: Exterminator!Steve [10]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Karaoke, M/M, Past Relationship(s), every relationship is different, liquid courage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 11:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1427365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundercaya/pseuds/thundercaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin wants the whole gang to go out for karaoke, but how well do these people actually get along?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> This will be my last fic, at least for a while. This was a fun headcanon, but now that it's been explicitly contradicted by the source material, it's time to give it a rest. Thanks to everyone who's been along for the ride, and if this is your first time, I hope it doesn't seem super silly.

It wasn't the first time that Cecil had invited Benny out for karaoke, though it was the first time since Benny had come back from being dead. He'd declined, mostly because he wasn't into karaoke to begin with, but also because he felt guilty for how friendly Cecil was and always had been. For the fact that Cecil had no idea that Benny had spied and reported on him for years and would still be doing so if the Sheriff's Secret Police would only _let_ him.

In the end, boredom overrode guilt. Benny's internship at the station helped liven up his existence, so to speak, but it was only a couple hours a day a few days a week. He loved his mother, but he was a grown--if undead--man and he couldn't spend all his free time with her. No one else was making an effort to include Benny in their plans--not his old friends, not his brother, all of whom had already gotten used to life without him--so if Cecil wanted him to come out to karaoke, then Benny figured it was about time he got himself into karaoke.

Benny was the first one to arrive at Canto Canto, the all-ages karaoke bar, but he waited until Cecil and Carlos got there to make his presence known.

"Hey Cecil," he greeted. "Carlos."

"Benny, it's so good to see you!" Cecil said. "I thought you had plans."

"Yeeeeah," Benny said averting his gaze. "I was gonna marathon Mad Men on Netflix, but my mom's internet is down."

"A worthy expenditure of time if I ever heard one," Cecil said clapping Benny on the back. "Shall we have a seat?"

***

Stella requested--nay, insisted--that Kevin drive to Canto Canto.

"I think Kevin would like to drink tonight," Steve pointed out.

"It's all right, Steve," Kevin said. "I know you won't crash my car."

"What's the big deal?" Steve asked his daughter. "You never minded the Corolla before."

"Dad, I a _lways_ minded the Corolla," Stella explained. "But it's usually either that or the ratmobile. If I have another option, then that's what I'm going with."

***

When Steve and company arrived, Benny and Carlos were flipping through song books. Cecil already knew the place's selection well enough not to need to, so he spotted them first.

"Stella, my dear," Cecil greeted, hugging her. "How many standing ovations do you think we'll get tonight?"

"Well, that depends," she said with a grin. "How many songs do you think we'll sing together?"

Cecil looked to Steve next, expression much less welcoming. "Steve Carlsberg. I wasn't sure if you were going to make it."

" _We_ invited _you_ ," Steve reminded.

Steve's teeth were back to normal, but judging by the bandages on Kevin's arms --and probably also places that Carlos couldn't see--they hadn't been that way when Kevin got to town.

"Steve, let's go order the drinks," Carlos said, guiding him toward the bar as Kevin tried to talk Cecil into a hug.

"Let me guess," Steve said. "'Cecil is trying, I swear, but old habits--'"

"'--die hard,' yeah, exactly," Carlos said. "But no, I know you know that. It's actually about Kevin. I know you're not contagious, but a bite from even a healthy human could potentially--"

"Carlos," Steve said. " _Carlos_. Do you know what I come across frequently in my line of work? Things that bite. So before I got good at this job and learned how to avoid it, do you know happened to me a lot? I got bitten by things. Don't think I don't know how to clean a bite. I know how to clean a bite."

"Okay, well--"

"Besides, I didn't really _bite_ him so much as--"

"I don't need to know."

***

"Thank you, sweetheart," Cecil said when Carlos handed him his drink. "Now come on, sing something from RENT with me."

"Babe, I haven't even started drinking yet," Carlos said.

"Oh, can I do it?" Kevin interjected. "That's my most favorite musical. "

"Mine as well," Cecil said. "My dream is to play Mark."

"I want to play Roger!" Kevin said excitedly. "I even auditioned once, but they wanted me to play Benny."

"Hm?" Benny glanced up from his song book.

"Not you, friend," Kevin said. To Cecil he said; "Oh, this is delightfully perfect. It's like you and I were destined to be best friends."

"Sorry, Kevin," Cecil said, sounding genuinely apologetic, "but people to whom I give that title have a tendency to disappear, so I am currently refraining from passing it on after Earl."

"That's so very thoughtful of you, Cecil," Kevin said. "But I would still just _love_ to sing with you."

***

Benny didn't pay much attention to the performance, given that he'd heard enough of Cecil's singing to last a lifetime much longer than the one he'd lived. That was how he caught Stella staring.

"What?" he asked her.

Stella flushed slightly. "I've been wanting to say something to you," she said. "We didn't get to talk much at the party."

Of course not. Benny had actively avoided talking too much to Stella for almost the same reason that Steve hadn't looked at him all night. "Yeah?" he prompted.

"Your hair makes you look like you belong in a boy band. Like Big Time Rush, or Menudo."

"Void, how do you know about Menudo?" Benny asked.

"Same reason my dad knows about Big Time Rush," Stella said.

Steve nodded in confirmation, though he still didn't make eye contact.

Stella went on. "You're Cecil's age, right? Or I guess, you were?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"When you died you were twenty-seven, but if you were still alive you'd be thirty-four. So do you feel twenty-seven or thirty-four?"

"Uhh...."

***

" _I don't know about you, but I'm feeling twenty-twoooooo._ "

"I was finally getting used to the idea that his chest doesn't move when he talks," Carlos said, "but it doesn't move when he sings? How the hell is he singing?"

"Who cares _how_ he's singing?" Steve said. " _Why_ is he singing? He's terrible."

"Come on, Steve," Kevin said. "You don't have to be a good singer to enjoy karaoke."

"Yeah, Steve," Cecil said. "That never stopped _you_." He cleared his throat then. "Though it's _very_ nice of Stella to sing with him. Hopefully none of _us_ will have to."

"At least we'll sound better by comparison," Carlos said. " _My_ confidence is up." He slid a song book in front of Steve and pointed out a title. "You wanted to sing together. Wanna help me out?"

"Ehhh, I've heard the song, but my Spanish isn't really good enough for me to keep up with lyrics I don't have mostly memorized."

Carlos turned to his boyfriend. "Cecil, how about--"

Cecil's arms were crossed and he was scowling.

"What is it, babe?"

"You asked Steve first."

"Yeah, he mentioned-- I mean, he likes Selena, so I figured-- You and I have already--" Carlos sighed with defeat. "I'm sorry, Cece. You're right, I should have asked you first."

"Apology accepted, cutecumber," Cecil said, "but my Spanish singing isn't all that great, either. Perhaps Benny--"

"No. He can never be Nelly Furtado."

"I bet Stella could do it," Steve put in. "She has an A in double Spanish."

"How different is double Spanish from regular Spanish?" Carlos asked.

"You just say everything twice. She can figure it out."

***

There were three single-occupancy restrooms at Canto Canto: a mens room, a ladies room, and one with a blank sign on the door. All three had a urinal, a sanitary napkin disposal box, and a baby change table, so everyone just used whichever one was free at the moment. Steve was just coming out of the blank-door room when Kevin caught him and pushed him back in. Kevin locked the door and pressed himself to Steve, pulling him down for a kiss. Steve's hands settled naturally on Kevin's hips.

"Cheshire Cat, if this is what you wanted to do, we could've stayed in tonight."

"I can wait," Kevin assured, fingertips ghosting over Steve's neck, making the older man shiver. "Just reminding myself what I'm waiting for. I am glad we didn't stay in, though. I think it's important for you to get out and enjoy the fresh air."

"Okay, one, I work outdoors all the time. Two, we're currently indoors. Three, 'fresh' is not the word I'd use for the air around here. I'd use 'dry,' and 'harsh' and 'possibly toxic.'"

"I meant metaphorical fresh air, as in time with your friends is a breath of fresh air."

Steve gave Kevin's hips an affectionate squeeze. "Kevin, _you_ are a breath of fresh air."

Kevin beamed. "Thank you, darling!"

"You are having a good time, right?" Steve asked. "I'm not doing this for nothing?"

"I'm having a _great_ time, but don't act like you're not enjoying yourself, too."

"Well...," Steve said, reluctantly, "I _did_ sing the hell out of that Matchbox 20 song."

"You did!" Kevin agreed. "And you know what? The next time you come see me, we're going to have even more fun because we're going to go dancing."

Steve sighed. "I already told you, I can't--"

"You say that, but I know from first-hand experience that you're capable of moving your body in _very_ appealing ways."

"That's not--" Steve was just a bit red now. "Thank you. But that's not the same thing."

"I'm not asking you to samba, dearest," Kevin laughed. "Honestly, I'd just like an excuse to grind on you in public." He moved his hips against Steve for emphasis.

"Why do you have to say and do such arousing things?" Steve asked, though he neither sounded nor looked like he actually minded.

"Have you keep you interested somehow," Kevin said with a smirk.

"Nothing to worry about there," Steve said. "Trust me."

"Good," Kevin said, standing up on his toes to give Steve a kiss. "Now, come on. I've got a song coming up."

Trish Hidge was waiting for the restroom when they emerged. 

"This is a _family establishment_ , Steve Carlsberg."

Kevin smiled brightly at her and Steve ducked his head under her glare. Though "we were just talking," was probably closer to the truth than whatever she was thinking, Steve knew he wouldn't be able to say it convincingly and stayed quiet instead.

***

"Your boyfriend has terrible taste in music," Cecil said.

"Except that he likes your favorite musical," Steve reminded.

"Yes, aside from that."

"I think it's cute," Steve shrugged.

"Well, of course you __\--" Cecil cut off as Benny grabbed his shoulder suddenly.

"Whoa."

"Are you all right?" Cecil asked.

"Yeah," Benny said, letting go of Cecil. "Just--Earthquake."

Carlos' eyes lit up with interest and he set down his drink. "You can feel the earthquakes?"

"Yeah. It's, uh, not a huge deal. They just catch me by surprise."

"Oh man, that's amazing!" Carlos exclaimed. "You should come do science with me sometime. Not at the lab. Some of the other scientists kind of  want to dissect you, but maybe you can come hang out with me and Steve some time when I'm doing science with him."

Steve made a throat-slash gesture, vaguely aware that given the context it might actually be offensive.

"Oh, right," Carlos said. "Uh, hey, Benny, you like Selena, right?"

"Uh...." Benny glanced at Steve who averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked at Carlos again. "Well, I'm Chicano and I was born before 1990, so--"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Carlos said. "See, Steve? He's cool."

"Uh, yeah," Steve muttered. "No, of course you can come along, Benny. Whenever you want. Carlos, buddy, can I talk to you for a sec?" Steve yanked Carlos out of his seat and led him away from the group. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "We talked about this yesterday!"

"Shit, I forgot," Carlos said. "See, this is why I don't normally drink. But I can't do karaoke without it, so... yeah. I'm sorry. But I mean, maybe I'd've remembered if you'd actually told me anything. What happened with Benny?"

"All right, all right," Steve said, pushing his hair back and clearing his throat. "Well, uh, what happened was that this one time, without my prior knowledge, Cecil and I had sex in Benny's room."

"Wow," Carlos said. "Does he know?"

"Not unless Cecil told him."

"How did you not know it was Benny's room?"

"Well, it was our first date," Steve shrugged. "I didn't know Cecil well enough to look at a room and know it wasn't his."

"Wait, you and Cecil had sex on the first date?"

"Yeah. He was into it, so I just figured, why waste ti--" Steve paled suddenly; he couldn't even blame that on drinking because he hadn't been. "Hey, look, they have nachos. Do you want nachos? I'm gonna go get you some nachos." He skittered off to the concession stand, berating himself all the way.

Seeing that Steve had left Carlos by himself--and that Carlos was making no move to either follow Steve or come back to the group, Cecil excused himself and joined his boyfriend.

"Is everything all right, honey?" Cecil asked.

Carlos met his eyes then looked away. "Yeah, Cece, everything's fine. Just, uh...." He looked at Cecil again. "Hey, babe? I'm, uh, sorry. That I wasted so much time."

"What are you talking about, honey?"

Carlos crossed his arms. "I mean taking so long to tell you how I felt. And then taking so long with everything after that."

"Oh, sweetheart," Cecil said, placing his hands on Carlos' shoulders and rubbing gently. "I would never want anything before you wanted it. I mean, I might _want_ it, but I wouldn't want to actually _get_ it if it wasn't what you wanted, too."

Carlos sighed deeply. "Thanks, Cecil."

"What brought this on?"

"Well, I know you and Steve moved pretty fast, and--"

Cecil's eyes flashed over to where Steve stood by the concessions counter, but not before Carlos caught sight of the fire they held.

"Nachos. Do you want--"

"Steve's already getting me nachos."

"Iced tea. Go sit down, sweetheart. I'll get you some iced tea."

***

Steve looked like a man who had accepted his fate.

"I fucked up," he said when Cecil reached him.

A _Steeeeeve Carlsberrrrrg_ died visibly in Cecil's throat.

"You-- I-- Yes, you did," Cecil managed. "I don't know what you said, but he's very upset and you need to apologize."

"I _am_ going to apologize," Steve said. "I just needed to step away for a minute before I made it worse."

"Worse how?" Cecil demanded.

"I don't know! I didn't have a _plan_ , but I'm sure I could have pulled it off."

"Well, you've had your minute. Get on with it."

Steve pointed at the concession counter pathetically. "I'm getting him nachos."

" _I'll_ get the nachos," Cecil said, giving Steve a shove. "Now go."

***

As Steve approached the group, Stella and Benny got up wordlessly to put in a song request.

"I bet Cecil needs some help with whatever he's buying," Kevin said, getting up as well.

Steve took a seat next to Carlos and folded his hands on the table.

"Kevin and I had sex the first day we met."

Carlos glanced at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Steve grabbed an empty glass and fiddled around with it. "I mean, I could try to say I wasn't myself. I was scared. And I felt alone. But that's been 'myself' for a very long time now. Sleeping with someone kind of makes me feel better. I didn't get a lot of chances, even before the thing with Cecil, so when I got one, I went for it." He gave a half shrug. "I wasn't matching pace with Cecil. He was matching pace with me. He wouldn't have wanted you to go any faster than you wanted. He's inconsiderate about a lot of things, but that's not one of them. I'm sorry I made you think otherwise."

"You didn't have to tell me all that to apologize," Carlos said.

"'I'm sorry I said that' doesn't stop you from worrying about what I said."

"Point," Carlos said. He cleared his throat and pulled a song book towards them. "So, uh. Did you still want to sing together?"

***

As Carlos and Steve did their best and angriest Alanis Morissette, the others enjoyed the nachos that Carlos had never actually wanted. Except Benny, of course, who instead broke a single nacho into tiny little pieces and complained about the last time he'd tried to eat. Kevin lent him a sympathetic ear until he was done with his rant, then he leaned over to Cecil.

"Aren't they just adorable?" Kevin asked, nodding toward the stage.

"Well I guess--"

Kevin's smile took on an edge that was just a tad too eager.

"No," Cecil said. "No, they're not. They shouldn't be anywhere near each other. In fact, someone should probably build a wall between them."

"But if you think about it--"

"I'm trying not to."

"Which means you are," Kevin said sitting back and lacing his fingers behind his head, satisfied. "You're welcome, friend."


End file.
